Favorite Quiche with Tips & Variations (Recipe)

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February 24, 2021

Quiche makes a lovely Sunday brunch addition, but we prefer it for dinner as a hearty main course. It is also endlessly adaptable to fit the season, the tastes of your family, and whatever you have in your fridge! Today we're presenting our favorite basic recipe plus tips from the One Straw kitchen to make it even easier for you to put this delicious dish on your table. You can scroll to the bottom if you prefer to get straight to the recipe.

The recipe below includes quantities for a smaller 9" pie pan as well as larger quantities (in parentheses) for a deep dish 10" pie pan. I suggest using a 10" deep dish pie pan so you can enjoy leftovers for a protein-packed breakfast or lunch over the next few days.

Another great time saving tip is to make two quiches and freeze one for later. Most of the work with quiche is in getting out the ingredients, so making a second one for a future meal really makes the most of your time. You can freeze an uncooked quiche and fully cook it when you serve it. However, I prefer to pre-cook the quiche before freezing and then just reheat it later - mostly because it's easier to transport to the freezer without sloshing egg all over!

If you pre-cook the quiche, make sure it is completely cool before wrapping and freezing. You can also freeze it in smaller portions by cutting it and removing it from the pan. Wrap wedges in plastic wrap and slip them in a zip top freezer bag to extend the shelf life. If you're not freezing the quiche in the pan, store it carefully so as not to break off the crust. You can reheat a frozen quiche in the oven from frozen (plan that it will take quite some time) or thaw in the fridge overnight. If you've used a glass pan (or no pan), you can speed up the reheating process by popping it in the microwave for a few minutes before finishing it in the oven to crisp up the crust.

One of the biggest hesitations many people have to making quiche is making the pie crust. I get it! You'll notice from the photos that I don't worry too much about how the crust looks, and that can be half the battle. After all, we're just going to eat it ;) But it still takes time and can feel daunting if you don't make them very often. One tasty solution is to keep a roll or two of phyllo dough in the freezer. You just have to let it thaw long enough to roll off about 10 sheets of dough for each quiche and then you can throw it back in the freezer for next time. I don't even bother to brush butter between the layers of phyllo. Of course that is a nice touch! But usually I just cover the pan with a couple sheets, going up the edges, and then layer the rest in, slightly crinkling each sheet.

Going low carb or gluten free? Make it crust-less! Oil your pie pan instead of lining it with a crust and layer in the ingredients as usual. If you have a favorite nut-based crust recipe or other option you already like to make, use that instead!

Quiche is endlessly adaptable to use whatever ingredients are in-season and handy. It's also a great way to use up extra bits of meat and vegetables left over in the fridge! Meat should be pre-cooked before adding it to the quiche. Some vegetables and herbs are good added raw, like onion, garlic and tomatoes. I prefer to pre-cook other vegetables, such as mushrooms, summer squash, broccoli, and greens. This is a case where leftovers really come in handy. Grab that container of leftover steamed kale out of the fridge, chop it up, and throw it in.

Don't worry too much about quantities when you're adding the extras. Occasionally it happens that you've included so much meat/vegetable/cheese filling that when you pour in the egg mixture you go right to the rim and still have some left over. No worries! Just save the extra egg mixture in a jar and add it to tomorrow morning's scrambled eggs.

Here is our favorite basic recipe plus some ideas to make it your family's new favorite meal.

Favorite Quiche

(Quantities in parentheses are for a 10” deep dish pie pan.)

Basic Recipe:

5 eggs (8)

1 C milk (1 ¼ C)

1 ½ C grated cheese (up to 2 C)

1 tsp salt (1 ¼ tsp)

Pepper to taste

Pinch dry mustard or cayenne (¼ tsp)

Meat, vegetables and herbs of your choice - see ideas below.

Make a pie crust and line a 9” (or 10" deep dish) pie pan. Alternately use about 10 layers of phyllo dough. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Beat eggs. Whisk in milk, salt, pepper and cayenne or dry mustard. Sprinkle cheese and any vegetables or meat in the bottom of the pie pan. Pour the egg mixture over the top. Cook at 400 degrees for 15 minutes then turn oven down to 350 degrees and cook an additional 45-55 minutes or to an internal temp of 160 degrees. Foil around the crust will keep it from over-browning, but is optional. Set 15 minutes before serving.

Filling Ideas

precooked bacon, sausage, or ham
onion, tomatoes, parsley, thyme
precooked spinach, chard, kale, broccoli
canned green chilis
sautéed mushrooms or summer squash
whatever is in the refrigerator

About 1/4 lb meat (pre-cooked weight) is a good starting place. We like to use 1 to 1 1/2 cups of onions and other vegetables in addition to the meat.

Quiche with red onions and green chilis.

Top 3 Secrets for Great Kabobs (Recipe)

Have you grilled shish kabobs yet this summer? I have to say, they’re one of my favorites and something I look forward to making every year as soon as the sun starts to shine. Shish kabobs are simple, healthy and so perfectly suited to the fresh tastes of summer. Quick enough for a weeknight, they can also be prepped in advance for a sunny deck party. Their roots are in multiple culinary traditions. Sometimes they’re just called Skewers. In Greece they’re called Souvlaki, which is what I made this week for my family. So what are they? At the most basic level, shish kabobs are bits of meat and/or vegetables placed onto skewers and grilled. The combinations of ingredients and flavors are endless, so they easily suit dietary needs, flavor preferences, and whatever is fresh for the season. But there are a few ways kabobs can go wrong if you don’t have the right methods in place. To help you get it right and have the best eating experience, today I’m sharing my top 3 secrets for great kabobs. Follow these 3 top rules and I can nearly guarantee you’ll create a delicious outcome every time. 1. Remove any connective tissue from the meat before grilling. Skip this step and you’re going to be disappointed. Connective tissues, like the fascia and silver skin, add a nutritious element to stews - but are enemies to a quick cooking dish like kabobs. Leave them in the kabobs, and you’ll end up with a tough nightmare you can’t chew. So, depending on the cut you choose, make sure to carefully remove any connective tissue before cutting the meat into one inch cubes. Following this advice is especially imperative if choosing a more economical cut of beef, like London Broil, stew meat or Denver steaks. They are delicious and can make great kabobs, but the tradeoff is a bit of extra labor on your part. You don’t have to throw away the trimmed bits, either. Save them in the freezer to add extra flavor and nutrition to your next batch of bone broth. Or cut them up for your dog or cat – best friends for life! Now, don’t confuse undesirable connective tissue with intermuscular marbling. You can tell it’s connective tissue to be removed if the muscle pulls away on both sides (see photo). Marbling, on the other hand, is the thin white veins of fat that run through the muscle. Marbling is delicious and highly desirable in kabobs. Leave it in! For the easiest to prepare and most tender bite, choose a quality steak like the New York Strip, Rib Eye or Top Sirloin. These cuts have very little, if any, connective tissue, so you’ll save the trimming step. Plus the NY and Rib Eye especially have the perfect amount of marbling to make for a super tender bite. Since our steaks are cut at 1” thick, all you need to do is finish cutting them into 1” cubes. Click here to buy steak for kabobs now. If you’re looking for a pork options, pork chops and kabobs are your best bet. They’re both delicious, but make sure to follow the rule on removing connective tissue when opting for the kabob. 2. Place meat on separate skewers from the vegetables. This is important because the vegetables are going to take waaaayyy longer to cook than the meat. Put them on the same skewers like in the pretty magazine pictures and you’re either going to have shoe-leather meat or raw vegetables. Which leads to… 3. Don’t overcook the meat. Overcooked, dried out meat is tough meat. I probably sound like a broken record on this point, but it’s so easy to get this step wrong. And it's important because I want you to enjoy every bite of our premium grass-fed beef - every time. So first grill those vegetables (the ones you placed on separate skewers) until they’re lovely and crisp-tender. Set them aside and THEN throw on the meat skewers. Now, don’t blink. Definitely don’t walk away to fill your drink, set the table, or mediate a kid dispute… In a flash, those succulent meat skewers will reach an internal temperature of 140 degrees. You’ll just have time to turn them and get lovely grill marks on all sides. Take them off the heat and rest them on a plate for 5 minutes. The internal temp will raise another 5 degrees and the meat juices will reabsorb for the most tender, juicy bite. Use a medium (not high) flame, for best results. Bonus Tips Get the family into the action. Cut up all the vegetables, toss them in olive oil, and then let everyone make their own skewers with whatever ingredients they prefer. When we made kabobs this last week, the Farmhands each made their own skewers and had so much fun in the process. Farmhand Vera eschewed the mushrooms. For Farmhand Eli, no onion. Farmhand Grace put on everything because that’s most fun - especially the “vacchinnies” (translation: zucchini). And no one punctured their hand with the sharp skewers! At least after I showed them how to put the veggies on a cutting board instead of the palm of your hand :) Final flavor tip - Be sure to marinate the meat skewers for at least 30 minutes or up to 24 hours. My absolute favorite marinade is from my Greek Souvlaki Recipe, because it complements both One Straw beef and pork without covering up the inherently luscious flavor. And don’t forget to make the tzatziki dressing from the same recipe. Drizzle it over the meat and vegetables on your plate. Then dust with parsley, salt and fresh ground pepper for the perfect finish. Are you hungry yet? I just finished up the last of our kabob leftovers for lunch and I’m wishing I’d made more… Click here to order beef or pork for kabobs now.